THERE’S been much debate over the past ten days over the makeup of next season’s Nationalist Premier Division. This in part is due to Hanover Harps fielding an ineligible player against Kilree Celtic in their final league game last weekend. A Hanover player had received two yellow cards against Parkville United the week before and thus received an automatic one match suspension.
Hanover then proceeded to play him in their subsequent match against Kilree. Kilree lost the match and therefore finished bottom of the table and were in line to be relegated from the Nationalist Premier Division. Hanover manager Paul Dowling explained that it was purely a mix up.
“I don’t get involved with that stuff personally, I’m here to coach the team and help players develop. It was a mix-up from the club as a general. We had nothing to hide, we put him in the team photo that was uploaded to social media. It was a genuine mistake, we thought he was suspended for the New Oak match. We would have preferred if he had been suspended for the league match and been available for the cup match, because everyone knows the quality of player he is.”
However, as per the Carlow League rules, Kilree have since been awarded the game which puts them above Killeshin in the table, sparking debate as to what that would mean for relegation. The Carlow League Executive Committee has since made the executive decision to not relegate any club.
Their statement read:
‘The executive committee can confirm that Burrin Celtic will be promoted from the Tullys Travel league and their will not be any relegation from the Nationalist Premier division as we restructure the league with ten teams for next season. The make up of the Tullys travel division and Whites Pharmacy division will be confirmed after we receive next seasons entries but at least two teams minimum will be promoted from the Whites Pharmacy Division.’
By Harry Shorthose
